Just four percent of Americans consider Bitcoin a long-term investment option, according to a survey.
A new survey by Bankrate, a financial services company, asked 1,000 Americans: “For money you wouldn’t need for more than ten years, which ONE of the following do you think would be the best way to invest it?”
The options included things like real estate, stocks, cash savings, precious metals, and of course, bitcoin/cryptocurrencies. Topping the list, only 11 years on from the housing crash, is real estate with 31 percent.
Cryptocurrencies were the least popular with only four percent of the votes. Interestingly, five percent of people said ‘none of the above,’ to the list of potential long term investments.
Back at the top of the list, stocks were the next most popular, with 20 percent saying that's the option they'd choose. Cash savings followed just behind with 19 percent. Gold/metals, and bonds rounded out the results with 11 and seven percent respectively.
When the survey segregated answers by age group, however, the results changed. For Millenials, those born between 1981-1996, real estate investing was the most popular choice.
This demographic has often been labeled as uninterested in home ownership, yet the survey found Millennials were more likely to choose property (36 percent) than any other group.
Cryptocurrencies also scored high among younger investors. It was the Millennials again who outscored older generations significantly when it came to investing in crypto. People born between 1965 - 1979 were three times less likely to opt for bitcoin as an investment over their younger counterparts. Older generations, meanwhile, those born between 1944 and 1964, predictably steered clear of crypto altogether. Crypto, it seems, is a young person's game.